Why Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven came off at half-time for Tottenham
Ange Postecoglou has explained the thinking behind the decision to hand starts to Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven against Nottingham Forest, and why both Tottenham centre-backs were subbed off at half-time.
Many Spurs fans were surprised when they saw the starting eleven named by Postecoglou against Forest, as there was not as much rotation as expected.
Despite their exertions away at Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday, several players who started the game kept their place in the eleven, including Romero and Van de Ven.
However, the pair were both withdrawn at half-time, even though Tottenham were trailing 2-0 at the break. The Lilywhites were unable to get anything from the game, with Richarlison’s 87th-minute goal proving a mere consolation.
Ange Postecoglou explains why he handed 45 minutes to all four Tottenham centre-backs
Ange Postecoglou confirmed in his post-match press conference that the decision to withdraw the Tottenham pair at the interval was pre-planned.
He explained that he wanted to give the Argentine and the Dutchman some minutes since their next clash against Liverpool is 10 days away.
When asked why he decided to hand Romero and Van de Ven 45 minutes, Postecoglou responded (via Football.London): “I thought they needed to play some minutes tonight because it becomes 10 days leading into Liverpool. With both of them, we’ve got them in a really good place physically now, and I just want to keep them ticking over.
“I felt that there was no need to play more than 45 minutes today, and we needed to get a couple of others game time.
“I just felt that if it was Sunday, we probably wouldn’t have played them, but on a Monday, especially for Micky because he’s been playing just one game a week, we need to build him up because he’s in a really good place at the moment so I thought 45 minutes for both of them would be beneficial.”
Micky van de Ven wants to play every game for Spurs
While Romero has been playing regularly of late, Postecoglou has opted to be very careful with his centre-back partner, saving him for the big clashes in the Europa League.
That is not something that the Dutchman does not appear to be happy with. When asked a few days ago why he does not play every week, Van de Ven simply told the journalist to ask Postecoglou about his usage.
In the same interview, the 23-year-old also clarified that he is fully fit, and it would seem from his response that he is frustrated at being held back.
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